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Prednisolone sent me to ICU

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 11/2/2015 11:43 AM (GMT 0)
Gastroenterologist has put me on Prednisolone to see if my stricture in ileum will heal, if it is from inflammation, and after three weeks, severe infection was noticed in my lungs, and I was admitted in ICU immediately.

4 days in ICU and ten days in recovery room, I was discharged. Prednisolone is discontinued and now I am on Imuran.

I was aware of side effects of Prednisolone, but never thought that it can affect internally and cause lung infection.

Beware of side effects of Prednisolone!
Posted 11/2/2015 1:42 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not a doctor, but I don't think Prednisone directly causes infections, but rather, it lowers your immunity so you are more prone to infections. Either way, I'm so sorry you had to go through this and I hope you are feeling better now!
Posted 11/2/2015 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with @gumby - you most likely either already had an infection or caught one, and prednisone kept you from being able to fight it off. ICU is extreme, though! Usually for me it just takes forever to get rid of it!
Posted 11/2/2015 8:45 PM (GMT 0)
Same thing happened to me. I was on pred, mtx and double dose of remicade and I ended up with a lung infection. It got tot he point where I could barely breathe. I had no idea that this could happen. The infectious disease dr blamed it mostly on the prednisone but I felt it was the combo of everything. Who knows. No one can even tell me exactly what I had, the lavage of the lung was negative for everything. I had respiratory failure and woke up a few weeks later in the ICU. Then i was moved to a regular room and had to rehab for a while until I could get around on my own. Now i am 'normal' again.
Posted 11/3/2015 11:37 AM (GMT 0)
I think I might have caught infection because a couple of my colleagues suffered from pneumonia before I was diagnosed with infection, Prednisolone might be the culprit aiding the infection catch me.

I am not feeling well, the stricture is causing abdominal pain. Being in ICU made me very weak, and yet to recover.
Posted 11/3/2015 12:58 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry you feel so awful. Imuran also lowers your immunity so be careful to avoid any other sick people while you are recovering and I hope your docs are taking blood regularly to make sure you are ok. Imuran can help your Crohn's but some people get side effects of pancreatitis or elevated liver enzymes, so you need to be watched closely. Take good care
Posted 11/4/2015 10:04 AM (GMT 0)
I am taking care as I am on Imuran, but need to attend office to run it smoothly. I thought I was careful when I was on Prednisolone, but never realized it can affect internally.

I will undergo tests related to being on Imuran when doctors prescribe me.
Posted 11/4/2015 1:38 PM (GMT 0)
If pred didn't heal your stricture after 3 weeks, then it is not likely your stricture is inflammatory. Not now, but at some point in the future when you have recovered, I would discuss the pros and cons of having a resection with your GI.

I hope the Imuran helps. It'll take 2-3 months to start working unfortunately, so it won't make any difference for a while. In the meantime, yeah; be really careful.
Posted 11/5/2015 10:54 AM (GMT 0)
I realize that Imuran takes 3 months time to show any result, but my problem is tackling the abdominal pain due to stricture in small intestine till then.

I do not know whether my stricture is inflammatory or scar tissue, there does not seem to be a definite answer at this time. I do not know whether Imuran helps in healing inflammatory strictures.
Posted 11/6/2015 1:24 AM (GMT 0)
Sounds like you might need to look in to surgery for the stricture. No curing those things unfortunately. We tend to build up a lot of scar tissue after all the flaring.

All of these medications lower our immune system, making it harder to fight off infections. Including Imuran. So just take care to stay as well as you can, and get in touch with your doctors if you suspect infections.
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